The Lighthouse
by ijustkeepswimming
Summary: What could have been if Charlie hadn't cancelled the picnic at the lighthouse with Joey...


_So, I appeared to have had a burst of CJ inspired one-shots this weekend. Here is today's offering and I will be posting out another tomorrow. I hope you like them. IJKS xxx_

**The Lighthouse**

Charlie continued to pack the lunch hamper but her mind was full of confusion. Ruby's words echoed in her mind and now she couldn't get the idea of Joey liking her out of her head. And she couldn't quite figure out how she felt about it. Her instinct told her that she wasn't interested. She didn't like girls in that way. She never had. It had always been men that she was interested in, not that any of them had been worth her while. But she did care a lot for Joey. She was nice and she was funny. She was a sweetheart and she never failed to make Charlie feel good about herself. _But that's what friends do, right? _Sighing, she closed the hamper and headed into the lounge where she found Joey on the couch listening to her iPod. She studied her for a moment and wondered why she felt this strange possession over her. She certainly felt stronger for Joey than she did for any of her other friends. She'd never had a best friend before. She wondered if this was what it was like. Joey's eyes flashed open as she realised someone was watching her. She grinned and pulled her earphones out of her ears. Charlie couldn't help but smile back. _She's so cute_, Charlie thought to herself. She immediately shook the thought away. She might not know the protocol when it came to how a person felt about their best friend, but she was certain that considering them cute or noticing their looks in any kind of significant way, wasn't normal.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked.

"Am _I _ready to go?" Joey teased. "You're the one who was taking forever!"

"Well, if you will leave me to pack the hamper all by myself!" Charlie countered.

Joey stood up and put out her hand.

"Call it even?" she asked.

Charlie shook her hand, trying not to notice the way a thrill shot through her at her touch.

"Deal," she said.

Silently she told herself not to let Ruby control her thoughts. She'd got her all excited about her date with Hugo and he'd stood her up. Now she was making her paranoid that there was something more than friendship between her and Joey, at least on Joey's side. She was determined not to let some kind of crazy panic ruin a wonderful friendship.

* * *

Charlie and Joey walked side by side up to the lighthouse. They had been taking it in turns to carry the hamper and it was currently Charlie's turn. Noting that her friend was lagging behind, Joey smirked at her.

"Good job this isn't a race!" she said.

"I'm carrying the hamper!" Charlie pointed out with a laugh.

"Excuses, excuses..."

"You know, a nice person would offer to lighten my load!"

"I know," Joey replied, making no move to help out.

Charlie tutted away to herself before Joey smiled and took the hamper off her, making a comment about having thought Charlie was a big, tough cop. Their fingers touched as Charlie handed the hamper over.

"Less of the big!" she said.

"Oh, you know you're gorgeous," Joey said.

Charlie stumbled. Joey dumped the hamper instinctively and reached out to steady her. Charlie looked at their clasped hands and then up and into Joey's eyes. She blushed to see her look so concerned.

"I didn't mean to knock you off your feet," Joey said lightly.

Charlie laughed and squeezed her hands. Joey smiled, let go and picked the hamper up again.

"I get it," she said. "You're faking injury so I have to carry this thing the whole of the rest of the way."

"Am not!" Charlie said.

She kept perfectly in step with her friend, although her heart was still racing. If Joey thought she was gorgeous, did that mean she had feelings for her? And if she did, would she say anything? Would she make some kind of move? Charlie had no idea how she would handle it if she did.

* * *

By the lighthouse and on a nice patch of green, Charlie and Joey spread out their blanket and sat down, enjoying their view of the rest of the Bay.

"I can't believe you've never come up here before," Joey said, opening two cans of drink.

She offered one to Charlie. Their fingers touched on acceptance. Charlie wondered if one or both of them were doing it on purpose.

"I've driven past it," Charlie said. "But never stopped."

"I used to come up here all the time as a kid," Joey said. "I actually packed my bags and ran away here once. I was convinced that I could hide out and live in the lighthouse!"

She chuckled.

"It was locked though."

Charlie sipped her drink and watched Joey rummage through their hamper in order to set their food out, ready to eat when they wanted.

"Why did you run away?" she asked.

Joey shrugged and looked suddenly despondent.

"I had a fight with my Dad," she said. "Well, he had a fight with me. He told me he hated me."

"Oh, Joey..." Charlie said sadly.

"I got over it," Joey said. "I don't think he really hated me."

"How could anyone hate you?" Charlie asked in sheer wonder.

She didn't think she'd ever met a lovelier, sweeter person in her life. There was nothing in Joey to hate.

"Tell Brett that," Joey said sadly.

She finished arranging their food and flopped back on the blanket to gaze up at the clouds. Charlie shifted so that she was lying on her side beside her, propped up on her elbow.

"Brett's a bigot," he said. "If he really knew you then he'd know how amazing you are."

Joey felt her heart racing a little as Charlie leant so close to her and paid her compliments. She looked so beautiful today, even more beautiful than normal. _She's straight and unattainable, _she reminded herself. _And even if she wasn't, she's completely out of your league._

"Well, if you like me, that's enough," she said honestly.

To be liked by a woman as incredible as Charlie was surely a compliment.

"I like you," Charlie confirmed.

_I really, really like you_, she suddenly realised. Gazing into Joey's face, she couldn't help but think she was the most beautiful person she'd ever known. Her eyes settled on her lips. They were full and looked incredibly soft. She was startled to find herself wanting to kiss her. _No way_, she snapped at herself, immediately shifting her position. _I do not want to kiss a girl. I'm not gay! Or anything similar!_

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

Joey pulled herself out of her own reverie. Charlie had been so close to her and she'd been looking at her so intently. She pushed away the silly notion that maybe there was something there. _It's not possible_, she told herself.

"Yeah," she said, sitting up.

Silently, she and Charlie began to tuck into their lunch.

* * *

After they had eaten, Joey packed all their leftovers away. She stood up and asked Charlie if she'd like to take a walk around.

"Sure," Charlie said. "I ate enough to keep me going for a week. It's probably a good idea to walk it off."

"Yeah, otherwise you'll become obese," Joey giggled.

She reached a hand out to a chuckling Charlie and pulled her to her feet. Both tried not to notice the way that they both held on for a moment too long before they abandoned their hamper and blanket and began walking away from it.

"Ruby seemed pretty stressed earlier," Joey commented. "Is she okay?"

Charlie couldn't help but think how adorable Joey was and how caring.

"I didn't quite get to the bottom of it," she admitted. "She's having some disaster or something but when I said I didn't really have time to listen, she got annoyed with me."

"Oh," Joey said. "I would have waited, you know."

She didn't want the sisters to fall out just because Charlie was trying to make Joey happy and spend time with her.

"I know," Charlie said. "I was just really looking forward to coming out with you."

Joey beamed at her and linked her arm through Charlie's. It felt so good to be close to her. Charlie looked down at their point of contact, telling herself that platonic friends walked around like this all the time. _But they don't start tingling, _she silently pointed out.

"How have you left it?" Joey asked. "Did you make up?"

"Yeah, she just made a couple of comments and left. I'll make it up to her later."

"What kind of comments?" Joey asked.

Charlie hesitated.

"Sorry," Joey said. "It's none of my business."

"No, it's fine. It's just... well, I think she's jealous that we've been hanging out a lot or something."

Joey paused and apologised.

"It's not your fault," Charlie said.

She took hold of both of Joey's hands and squeezed her fingers gently.

"I've been monopolising your time though," Joey said unhappily.

"I've wanted to spend time with you," Charlie insisted. "I love your company."

They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, still holding hands. Once again, Charlie found herself interested in Joey's mouth. _When did she get so attractive? Get real, Charlie, she's always been attractive. And you've always thought so. It's just that Ruby's awakened you to the fact that it's not platonic to think like that_. She licked her lips uncertainly, noting Joey's stare was as intense as hers.

"I love your company too," Joey managed but neither made another move.

Charlie smiled at her and finally forced herself to tear her gaze away. They began walking again. Charlie swallowed several times and focussed hard on putting one foot in front of her. _Just ask her_, she urged herself. But she hesitated. If she were to bring this up as an issue now, there would be no turning back. She'd have to figure out immediately what Joey meant to her and she wasn't sure if she was willing or even capable. They continued to walk in silence, wandering around the green and heading back towards their picnic basket.

* * *

"Charlie, is there something on your mind?" Joey asked when they'd sat back down.

Charlie looked a little startled. Now was her chance. She just had to decide whether to take it or not. She sighed and gazed back at Joey's expectant face.

"It's nothing," she said. "Just something Ruby said."

Joey chewed her lip nervously. She had a horrible feeling that she knew what Ruby had said. She'd seen the curious way Ruby had looked at her after she and Charlie had got back from their run earlier. And she was painfully aware of why. She'd been gazing after Charlie as if she was smitten. She _was _smitten and she was terribly afraid now of Charlie confronting and rejecting her.

"What did Ruby say?" she asked nervously.

"She just had this crazy idea that..."

Charlie looked down at her hands. They were shaking. Joey noticed too and gently reached out to steady her.

"I know what she said."

Charlie looked startled.

"And I promise, you don't have anything to worry about. I'm not about to hit on you or anything."

Charlie looked relieved but wasn't sure she felt it. She held onto Joey's hands and looked into her eyes. Once more she became captivated by her lips. She licked her own lips and tried to figure out what she wanted to say.

"Charlie, are you still with me?" Joey asked.

"Yeah!" Charlie squeaked. "Yeah. I'm good. I'm here. I'm fine."

_Was she admitting that she does like me? Or was she denying it? Do I want her to like me? _Charlie smiled and told her she was glad they'd got it all cleared up.

"So, we're good?" Joey asked. "You don't mind if I find you attractive?"

Charlie was surprised by the worry in her voice.

"Of course I don't mind," she said. "I'm flattered."

They smiled at each other and then settled themselves down on the blanket, lying side by side. Charlie's mind was racing at a mile a minute as she tried to work out what to say and do. Part of her was terrified by the admission but then she was aware that she'd be disappointed if it transpired that she didn't feel that way about her.

"I don't want to wreck anything," Joey ventured. "Like, I don't want to scare you off. You've been so good to me. You've saved my life. You rescued me. And I don't want me having feelings for you to ruin that."

Charlie watched Joey's mouth as she spoke. She looked so shy and nervous. _She's adorable_, she thought to herself.

"I mean, I know it's not going to be anything," Joey said. "I know you'd never..."

Charlie leant forward and kissed her. Joey jumped back in surprise and Charlie quickly apologised. She sat up, blushing and calling herself an idiot. Joey sat up too and put her arms around her. They gazed at each other for a moment before Joey slowly leant in and returned the kiss. Sitting in the sunshine, the girls wrapped their arms around each other. Their lips brushed and their hearts pounded. Drawing away slowly, they both blushed and felt shy.

"I don't really understand what I'm feeling," Charlie admitted. "I don't... I've never... It's just you."

Joey smiled at her.

"Well, now you've made me feel like the most special girl in the world!" she said.

"You _are_ the most special girl in the world," Charlie said sincerely.

Joey looked down bashfully but kept her arm around Charlie.

"I never expected that to happen," she admitted.

"Me neither," Charlie said. "I've been fretting about this all day, trying to figure out if you liked me, trying to figure out if I liked you..."

"Have you figured it out?" Joey asked. "Because if we're putting all our cards out on the table, I think I've fallen in love with you. I never ever would have pursued anything but... if... if you like me too..."

"I do," Charlie confirmed. "I just don't know how I feel about that."

"You're not happy," Joey concluded.

"I just didn't see it coming," Charlie said. "It never occurred to me before. But now... now I can't stop thinking about it, about you."

"Well, that's good to know," Joey said.

"What do we do about it?"

"Well, I know what I'd like to do," Joey said with a cheeky grin.

Charlie laughed and hugged her.

"Maybe we could take things slowly," she said. "Privately. We could just... see what happens. See how it fits? No pressure?" she suggested.

"That sounds good to me," Joey said.

They smiled at each other.

"Can we go fast enough that I can kiss you again?" Joey asked hopefully.

"I really wish you would," Charlie said.

Joey leant in and captured Charlie's lips with her own again. _They're just as soft as I imagined_, Charlie thought to herself as she offered her love to Joey completely.


End file.
